Wandering amongst tourists trying to eke out a living, this enterprising sadhu took on the role of a guide to help tourists around his city and make an honest living for himself. On a boat ride along the river Ganges as Udayans guide, this holy man made himself comfortable at one end of the boat with his smoking pipe and a content squat. He could not resist the temptation of some worldly pleasure as he sailed along the cool river front smoking his beloved pipe lost in thoughts of enlightenment.

1️⃣Published as Photo of the Day on earthshots.org on 8th May 2014. This was also published as news article at harvestheart.tumblr.com, fotodesigners.com, socialmail.com & graficament.com
2️⃣Won 1st Place in DPReview Challenge (Intangible Cultural Heritage) & published on DPR website (dpreview.com) on 10th June 2014.
3️⃣Published in Photoscape of Asian Photography - June 2014 issue.
4️⃣Won 2nd place in PixelPost Photo Contest-2014 (pixelpost.in) and received a trophy, a certificate and an exclusive calendar. It was also published on their website & facebook page.
5️⃣Published in PostCard of LonelyPlanet Magazine India in February 2015 issue.
6️⃣Featured as the cover image in the article that Udayan wrote for fotoflock.com on Image Management: Part III that published on 24th Aug 2015.
7️⃣One of the TOP5 entries of Lonely Planet: Photo Challange - Orange on their Flickr Group (flickr.com/groups/64228671@N00) in March 2016. [Link: goo.gl/h4wNqg]
8️⃣Featured on konakonakotak.com. Kotak Mahindra Bank became India’s fourth largest private bank in 2015 & to highlight its presence across a significantly larger geography that includes smaller towns and cities, it has rolled out a campaign, titled “Kona Kona Kotak”.
9️⃣Uber-India bought this image to use on their instagram and credited INR.1000/- to Udayan’s Uber App in July 2016.
1️⃣0️⃣tabi-indo.com used this image on their website to promote one of their travel package to Varanasi.
1️⃣1️⃣Accepted in “Holy Island-3rd International Art Exhibition of Sacral Motifs-2016” organized by Photo Club Kornat in Croatia [fotoklubkornat.hr] and published on their e-catalog.
1️⃣2️⃣Featured in an article on Image Management that Udayan wrote & published in Smile Art Beats eMagazine-December2016 issue [smileartbeats.com].
1️⃣3️⃣Won Jointly 2nd Place in DPReview Challenge (Theme was Religious-but not Christian) & published on DPR website (dpreview.com) on 6th February 2018. Link: goo.gl/Z7TKtK

“Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me; The carriage held but just ourselves - And Immortality”.
Millions of people from many parts of India throng the edge of the holy Ganges at the Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi with a hope that their final journey on earth ends where humanity meets divinity. At the divine gates, their lifes deeds would be weighed and if the good weighed more than the bad, they would earn the right to walk into light. Udayan found this hunched old man emerge from a courtyard filled with wood that fuels fire to consume the mortal remains of humans. His slouching shoulders, measured steps, the weighing scale and his lifes possessions on his back summed up the solemn story of the last mile in this frame.

1️⃣Won a Special Mention Award at 1er interno 2018 organised by Foto Club Quilmes. Link: goo.gl/8fhNuu
2️⃣This is one of the two images of Udayan which were part of the Coups de Coeur organized by wipplay.com as part of the screening of the Indian Photography Festival in Hyderabad happened September/October-2018.

Often life presents a juxtaposition of circumstances and people that create a fascinating frame. Two women... a content widow with no worldly cares at rest near a pretty yet lifeless model, their feet inches apart, yet clearly conveying their different attitudes towards life. Untouched by the passage of time, the two women created a thought provoking frame for Udayan.

1️⃣Won 2nd prize in the Oct-2015 Flickr Monthly Contest (Alone) of The Camera Club of Hyderabad (flickr.com/groups/thecch) & prize was Two 12X18 Photo prints including shipping from zoomin.com
2️⃣Won “Expert Top 10” award in Homeless Contest in photocrowd.com [goo.gl/2RnPaq]. It was also featured on many websites on the occasion of World Homeless Day [10th October 2016] like twice in www.xinmin.cn [goo.gl/ijdpXE & goo.gl/U0oYMa], in two different posts on www.tnews.ir [goo.gl/9yHyOA & goo.gl/ YL6Qfn], xinbojy.com [goo.gl/iE6XDB], two different posts in clipmass.com [goo.gl/YUHJDo & goo.gl/uPiqlW], newszii.com [goo.gl/cndcw5], indy100.com [goo.gl/JQ0RVY], scol.com.cn [goo.gl/eGr98i], atisam.ir [atisam.ir/news/93975], akhbarelyom.com [akhbarelyom.com/news/571119], deadbees.net [goo.gl/sZCFrm], otaghkhabar24.ir [otaghkhabar24.ir/news/66999], postjung.com [goo.gl/c6J2nL], theuniversal.it [theuniversal.it/6765-2], meekhao.com [goo.gl/az7056], mashhadsar.ir [goo.gl/OeNzNC], namnak.com [ goo.gl/o1O31p], dbw.cn [goo.gl/YVfhNC], chinadaily.com.cn [goo.gl/nQyQow], xinhuanet.com [ goo.gl/oKG5og], sina.com.cn on [ goo.gl/M12XjC], awangarda.ru [ goo.gl/eZRaj8], tahapakhsh.ir [goo.gl/ igcROs], segye.com [goo.gl/HKOiUV], catdumb.com [ goo.gl/51z3xl], fjsen.com [goo.gl/5HPTqr], travelask.ru [goo.gl/zpx9Qi], world.kapook.com [goo.gl/DYXdq9] and haoranw.com [goo.gl/HtP4MU].
3️⃣This is one of the two images that Accepted in 16th China International Photographic Art Exhibition. Total 638 images are accepted from 55637 entries by 10167 photographers from 96 countries & exhibited at Zhengzhou, China in May 2016. It is also published on their website & printed catalog. Here is the link: goo.gl/vx0kkF. It is also featured at cipafe.com [goo.gl/rRmMvR].
4️⃣Won 1st prize in the March-2016 Flickr Monthly Contest (Theme was Woman) of The Camera Club of Hyderabad (flickr.com/groups/thecch) & prize was a 8x8 Printed Hardcover Photobook in Classic Paper worth almost Rs 1100 from zoomin.com
5️⃣It was featured on kujaja.com gallery in 2015. It is a stree photography group. [Link: goo.gl/y3tBM3]
6️⃣Won the 1st place in Weekly Travel Photography Competition (Sub: Nap) of Lonely Planet blog (goo.gl/mJ2bzd) & published in the blog as winning image and received “The Travel Book” as the prize.
7️⃣1st place winner of the Weekly Theme Contest (Street Photography) of fb/groups/TheCritiqueRoom in Jul2016 & published on their website at phototcrindia.com [Link: goo.gl/CcmcAh].
8️⃣This is one of the 22 images of Udayan exhibited in 1st Armenian International Photo Fest-2019 at Yerevan from 24th Aug to 28th Sep. [amphotofestival.com]
9️⃣Third place winner of weekly photo contest of Nirvana - The Photography FB Group in Jul 2016 & theme was “Old Age”. [Link: goo.gl/hx19zB]
1️⃣0️⃣YourArtGallery.com used this image for a poster on their social network in Feb 2017. Link: goo.gl/tcYYqY
1️⃣1️⃣Featured on Klickideas Annual e-Book, Spotlight-2016 [klickideas.com/spotlight-2016]
1️⃣2️⃣Udayan have received a membership from Sille Sanat Sarayi from Turkey. For this he has received an id card & a white pin. This is one of the ten of his images that featured as his portfolio in their website. [Link: goo.gl/1wvNOi]
1️⃣3️⃣Awarded a Certificate of Merit in Delhi Judging of SAM Circuit-2017 (wpaidelhi.com).
1️⃣4️⃣Awarded a CAS HM Medal in Pune Judging of SAM Circuit-2017 (wpaidelhi.com).
1️⃣5️⃣Awarded a Certificate of Merit in Ratlam judging of SAM Circuit-2017 (wpaidelhi.com).
1️⃣6️⃣Awarded a WPAI Gold in Kolkata judging of SAM Circuit-2017 (wpaidelhi.com).
1️⃣7️⃣Awarded GPU Gold Medal in Dewas judging of SAM Circuit-2017 (wpaidelhi.com).
1️⃣8️⃣Won 2nd Place in DPReview Challenge (Theme was Unintentional Blur) & published on DPR website (dpreview.com) on 22nd October 2017. Link: goo.gl/YYZDar
1️⃣9️⃣It was one of the highly appreciated images of fortnightly theme contest -The Art of Black and White organised by Photography Club of Assam FB Group in October 2017. Link: goo.gl/3JuKnS
2️⃣0️⃣Won the 1st prize in thematic contest [Woman] in April 2017 organized by Photography Club of Assam-Barpeta Branch in their fb group [fb/groups/PCABB] and received a 16GB SD card as the prize. [Link: goo.gl/q0UeLc]
2️⃣1️⃣Awarded with Honorable Mention/Diploma in 22nd International Exhibition of Photography-2017 organized by Foto Klub Kornat [fotoklubkornat.hr].
2️⃣2️⃣Won third place in IVAF FB Group Monthly Contest-June2017 [fb/groups/1383652221727483] and theme was Street. Link: goo.gl/rc4n4R and ivaf.in
2️⃣3️⃣Awarded a Certificate of Merit in NIC-Itarsi Judging of SAM Print Circuit-2019. [wpaidelhi.com]
2️⃣4️⃣This is one of the two images of Udayan that has been published in Chiiz Magazine-Volue 10-January2018 along with his profile picture as contributor.
2️⃣5️⃣Awarded a Photography Pathshala Silver in Rainbow 2nd International Circuit-2018 [Galaxy Art Society Judging]. rainbowcircuit.org
2️⃣6️⃣Won the weekly ”Power of Photography Contest” [Theme was Woman] organised by Toehold.in in March2018 and received a Gift Voucher worth INR.2000/- [Link: goo.gl/BdqwCX]. It is also shared on their FB Group Cover [facebook.com/groups/toehold.in].
2️⃣7️⃣Awarded Club Diploma [Photo Club Infinity Doboj] in the Life Section of The International exhibition of art photography CONTRAST 2018 [contrast.fotodoboj.com]
2️⃣8️⃣Accepted in Tell Me Your Story contest organised by sillesanat.com for its members in 2018. Link: goo.gl/e2Az4P
2️⃣9️⃣Chiiz magazine featured this image on their social media as “Chiiz’s Pick” in September2018. Link: goo.gl/v6ctWE & goo.gl/ajixbg
3️⃣0️⃣Accepted in Tell A Social Problem with Photograph contest organised by sillesanat.com for its members in 2018. Link: goo.gl/2n7Zv2
3️⃣1️⃣Awarded a WPAI Silver in PCC-Chandigarh Judging of SAM Print Circuit-2019 [wpaidelhi.com]
3️⃣2️⃣Selected for Kaleidoscope-The Photography Exhibition at Kolkata Short Film & Photography Festival-2019 [ksff.in]
3️⃣3️⃣Won the 2nd place in B&W Photography Contest organized by instagram.com/phoconse in 2019 and received INR.3000/- as the cash award.
3️⃣4️⃣Featured in thephotographicangle.co.uk as Photo of The Week on 13th March 2020 to inspire the photographers for their monthly contest Contrast.
3️⃣5️⃣Awarded a FIP Bronze Medal in 1st APS National Salon-2020 [apssalon.in]